Hello Again, Naturally
]]>It appears that it’s been a while since I’ve posted on here. It may be that no one has noticed. If that’s the case, ouch. Anyway, I’ve been a little busy, but I’m back with more mayhem, memes and memories for your creative musings. Speaking of memories, if you’re wondering about the post title, it’s the title and refrain of the Gilbert O’Sullivan song by the same name. Here: Gilbert O’Sullivan – Alone Again (original version) Now get off my lawn.

Our new good, ah, friend at nathan friend sliced off a piece of my youth and launched it into yesterday’s tomorrow, updating the classic Spiro-Graph. Inspirograph is the digital version of a favorite childhood toy slash art maker. Find it here: http://nathanfriend.com/inspirograph/ [Link opens in a new window.]

…Chance is everywhere. That’s why human beings like to put numbers on things. As footholds.

We also like to touch things.

If you leave a pair of dice on a table, you can be sure that someone will roll them. I think there are two main reasons for this – and they are simple ones.

1. People love the feel of dice. There is something beautiful about the touch-hold-clack of picking dice up that can only be matched by the open-clack-tumble of letting them roll. Dice feel good. The sound of dice is important too. The shake is mainly about hearing the bones rattle. The next time you see someone roll dice, watch to see if they ever close their eyes when they let them go. I think you might be surprised by how many people do this. That’s the player listening for the sound of the dice hitting the table – their auditory cue that something in the universe has changed.

2. It’s important to know what the result is. Dice on a table, unrolled, tell us nothing. They are just objects. Just things. The number you can read from them before you roll them is meaningless. It isn’t the result of anything. It’s just there. But when you roll those dice, you get an actual result. You might even get the same number on both dice – a result that means you need to re-roll to see what the next result is. Results are important. An unrolled dice is an unfinished story.

[edit: I am now in the rudimentary stages of an art installation project that consists of a pair of dice sitting alone in an empty room fabricated at a size too big for anyone to roll. E.]

And finally, poignantly:

When “luck” is with us, and we create a freakish sequence of results, we move subtly into a realm that makes us uncomfortable. It is The Kingdom of This-Can’t-Be. If you roll doubles forever, you must be something separate from the rest of the human race. You must be a god. And this can’t possibly be. So you roll and roll again, until everything in the universe rights itself. Until, if within the confines of some sort of game, you lose.

You then believe you can’t lose forever. And so you roll.

You are either a God or a Fool. You can’t be both.

Dice instruct us on the truth of what we are. It is a comforting truth indeed.

Late Again: Trend Spotting 2014
]]>As usual, I’m late again posting retail trends to watch in 2014. But, the information is still good and I would certainly expect these trends to carry over beyond 2014. TrendWatching agrees with me. From the TrendWatch [link opens in new window.] intro: No matter what market or industry you’re in, if you’re obsessed with catering to evolving consumer needs, desires and expectations, you will prosper through even the most insane global upheavals, whatever their flavor. In 2014, 2015, 2016 and beyond.
However, as the start of a new year is the time when many of you are doing some extra imagining and planning and creating, we thought we’d do our bit and throw in a handful of consumer trends that are begging to be applied in the next 12 months. By you.Here’s the rest of the report. [link opens in new window.]